


After every night, there is a morning

by SuklaaSiili



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Canon Setting, F/M, Feelings, Fluff, Friendship, Hak and Yona are so oblivious, Hak is overprotective idiot, Jae-Ha ships it, Romance, everyone is happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 21:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8505199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuklaaSiili/pseuds/SuklaaSiili
Summary: Yona and Hak have finally found all of the dragons, and they have been travelling together for a while. While many of them had lost their family, the time they had spent together had created something new and warm. Before realizing it, the group already felt like a family, the home everyone of them could always return to. They share their worries and causes of happiness, but somethings just need a little time. Or alternatively a little push.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everybody! This is the work I wrote to join the Akatsuki no Yona Bigbang together with qpeura who created a wonderful peace of art to go along with this story. Thank you so much for her! I hope this bigbang helps give the series it's much deserved attention. Please enjoy!

Yona blinked her weary eyes, her hand shielding them from the rays of sunlight that persistently seeped in from the gaps in the tent’s doorway. Tossing and turning on the thin blanket, she only managed to get rid of her remaining sleepiness despite her efforts to fall back to sleep. Yona sighed in defeat, but remained lying on her back.

Perking up she could hear the birds chirping outside. Looking back to the time when she still slept in the comfort of Saika castle, even Yona herself found it hard to believe she was already used to sleeping in tent, and on occasion even under the open sky. Yona tried to tame her tousled red locks, but gave up in desperation when they refused to settle down.

Even though there was much more to worry in her life nowadays beside her hair Yona felt slight irritation at her hair which never seemed to obediently settle down.

Back then it had been all she ever thought about. Yona would much have preferred elegant straight hair over her wild locks, even though others constantly admired the hair she was born with.

Yona sat up as quietly as she could, before she remembered there was no one sharing her tent. Before Yoon had finished sewing the other tent, he had always slept in the same tent as her. Though she didn’t want to admit it aloud, Yona had secretly felt glad not having to sleep alone. Having somebody in your presence at all times was something she hadn’t always appreciated, but learned to do so after a certain incident.

Hugging her knees close to herself, Yona felt a shiver go down her spine. No matter how long time passed, she doubted she would ever be able to think about that night and still remain calm.

Maybe outwardly she would learn to conceal it, but there was still sharp pain stabbing at her heart, the wound that ached every time she looked back at the night of her father’s death. And every single time she was reminded of the person quilty of her fathers brutal murder. Yona took a shaky breath trying to suppress the sting in her eyes.

She hated crying. She hated being weak. And crying was what made her feel the most vulnerable. So instead of giving in to the temptation to just let it all out, Yona willed herself to calm down, waiting till her breathing became steady again. After regaining her composure, Yona abruptly slammed her palms to her cheeks in attempt to lift her spirits, resulting into surprised sound and thud from outside. Feeling confused, Yona moved to the doorway and peeked outside

“Hak..!?”

Yona exclaimed after seeing the source of the sound baffled, sitting on the ground in front of her tent. She puffed her cheeks and put her hand to her hips moodily.

“Ah... You see..”

Hak scratched the back of his head, awkwardly looking everywhere but at her.  
Yona stepped outside from her tent and crouched down to Hak’s eye level:

“You were just going to pull some stupid prank on me again weren’t you? Just admit it.”

Yona gave Hak a sour look, to which he responded by silently staring back at her.  
For a while Yona held his gaze, but when she felt colour creeping to her cheeks she quickly faced the other way.

Seconds passed and Yona thought her heartbeat was so loud maybe Hak could hear it too. Shuffling of cloth and flash of blue in the corner of her eye almost caught Yona off guard. Trying not to be too conscious of her still obvious blush, Yona looked up to see Hak patting dust from his clothes.

It might have been just her imagination, but against the early sunlight it seemed as if the tips of his ears had red tint in them.  
Hak cleared his throat and Yona tried to figure what kind of expression he was wearing right now. She had to stir her eyes to see Hak’s figure clearly, his back facing Yona in the early morning light.

  
“You were never really an early riser, I was just little surprised to see you awake at this hour.”

  
“It’s been like this for a while... I guess I just don’t sleep so soundly anymore.”

Yona leaned her head to her knees, absentmindedly drawing circles to the ground with her finger. Had she been sitting where she could have seen Hak’s face, Yona would have noticed how his jawline tightened at her last words.

Hak swallowed dryly, his knuckles beginning to loose their colour with his hands angrily balled into fists.

“You get enough sleep, don’t you..?”

Her hand stopped moving before she gave him an answer.

“Usually I sleep around six hours. It’s the same with others isn’t it?”

Yona kept her eyes glued to the ground, suddenly finding her drawings too interesting to look away from them. There was silence again, but both were well too aware of the tension lingering in the air.

  
“I don’t think that answered my question right now.”

Hak still didn’t turn around and Yona felt irritation slowly rising it’s head in the back of her head. If Hak was questioning her like a petty criminal then he should at least face her properly!

  
“If that’s all you had to say then I’m not going to answer..!”

Yona stood up angrily and started to walk away when she felt a tug in her arm.

“Hak..! I thought I told you-”

Yona spun around and was ready to snap at him but no words came out when her brain registered Hak was standing only few inches away from her. Yona averted her eyes and waited for a lecture, her mouth in a stubborn line.

When it never came, Yona lifted her eyes to look up at Hak’s face carefully. She was taken aback by his expression. There was not a hint of his usual mocking grin or knowing smirk, not even the angry face he usually showed when Yona acted irresponsibly.

  
There were marks of weariness in Hak’s expression and suddenly he looked somehow too vulnerable, too young to carry his heavy spear. Hak looked down at Yona, his tired eyes clouded with worry. There was something else in his eyes too, but Yona couldn’t really put a finger on it.

He looked almost hurt, and something in Hak’s expression reminded Yona of the one he was wearing on the night they were both betrayed by their precious childhood friend. Feeling a wave of quilt wash over her, Yona bit her lip. She couldn’t bear to look at that hurtful expression and cast her eyes downwards again.

  
There was shuffle from cloth and in the next moment Hak was hugging Yona to his chest so tightly it was almost suffocating. Yona felt her eyes slowly going wide with the realization of the sudden closeness. The shock glued her to her feet and it took a while for Yona to gain control of her body again.

Before she could move to protest, however, she remembered the look in Hak’s eyes. With how much Hak was obviously hurting right now, Yona didn’t have a heart to push him away. Yona leaned her forehead to Hak’s chest carefully and let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding.

He was warm and with quickly emerging blush Yona realized she could hear his slightly uneven breath right next to her ear. Embarrassed, Yona turned her head to better hide her reddened cheeks.

  
There were things the redhead knew about Hak that nobody else did, things you could only know when you had spent so much time together. Somehow that made it scary for her when she didn’t understand what was going through his head. At moments like these, when the usual air of confidence and boldness about Hak was gone, Yona didn’t know what to think. More often than not, with only the two of them the air became tense and Yona couldn’t bring herself to face Hak properly. It was unfamiliar, new feeling which made her feel anxious.

The familiar feeling of peacefulness she had always felt around Hak hadn’t really disappeared either. It was rather that lately there was something more to it, this weird bubbly feeling that left Yona at loss of what to do or say when they were alone. Yona struggled weakly to get some distance between them, feeling the need to calm her furiously beating heart before it burst out of her chest.

  
“Hak... You can let go already I’m fine, really.”

Yona tried to take a step back, strangely finding her resistance very weak like her body wasn’t listening to her telling it to move away from him. To her surprise, Hak just tightened his embrace and stayed quiet. Just as Yona was about to open her mouth again, Hak muttered quietly:

“Sorry...Would you let me be little selfish for a while longer..?”

  
Yona stood still, biting her lower lip as if it would ease the flutter of her heart. It was but few minutes later Hak let his hands fall to his sides and stepped back, getting out of redhead’s personal space.

Yona gave Hak a puzzled look but Hak just avoided her eyes and looked towards the sea in the horizon. Yona huffed barely audibly, crossing her arms with slight pout. Smile tugged at the corner of Hak’s’ mouth, signalling his amusement at Yona’s childish sulking. The girl in question discreetly looked at Hak from her eye corner.

It never ceased to amaze her how Hak noticed all the smallest details around him. He wasn’t even looking in her direction and still noticed how she reacted. Hak had turned his back at Yona again, and seemed to be deep in thought his mind wandering and his eyes looking at the sea without seeing anything.

  
“I know you can take care of yourself.”

His words were almost drowned in the gust of wind that broke the calm of the sea for a moment.

  
“It’s your own attitude at times like these that makes me doubt my trust in that fact anyway.”

Hak turned his head to look at the girl behind him, his impish grin reaching all the way to his eyes, no hint of worry left in them.

“..!”

Yona didn’t know if she felt more embarrassed or pissed at the truth in his remark, settling for trying to keep her mouth in a tight line. Her attempt failed miserably after only seconds of trying to look at Hak grinning like an idiot, and Yona couldn’t help but to burst into laughing.

Hak joined her with a laugh of his own, the mood shifting back into relaxed one. Yona moved to stand beside him, wiping few tears from the corners of her eyes all the while trying to stifle her laughter:

  
“Hak, don’t make that face! The others are still sleeping..!”

  
“What are you looking at me for, it was you who laughed the loudest, not me.”

Her childhood friend looked at Yona with that innocent face she had seen so many times before.

  
“Don’t think I’m buying that look, not after all these years..!”

Yona laughed quietly and pushed at Hak’s shoulder fondly. Her friend faked offended look and inhaled with pretended hurt in the sound.

  
The two sat down on the tree trunk and quickly fell into comfortable conversation looking back at all the stupid things they had done and said back in the days when both were young and more or less spoiled. (Both fully aware the latter had applied mostly to Yona but neither cared to bring that up.)

Without even noticing, Yona had started to smile softly at the memories, enjoying the shared moment of quiet amusement at the happy moments of their past.

  
Sun had started to creep up over the horizon, warm rays of light replacing the chill of the night air. By the time Yoon crawled out of the tent groggily, the pair sat in silence simply staring out to the sea, chatter having changed to comfortable silence.

The self proclaimed handsome boy yawned loudly and stretched, only then noticing Hak and Yona sitting little ways away. He was about to ask how long they had already been awake, when a hand came to cover his mouth abruptly.

  
“Shhh..!”

It was Jae-ha, who slowly removed his hand to face shorter boy’s anger with hands jokingly raised in surrender.

  
“You didn’t have to scare me like that..! What was that about anyway?”

Yoon huffed at the green dragon, who simply shrugged faking ignorance:

  
“I don’t know what you are talking about. Besides, since when have people needed a reason to come say good morning?”

  
“What..?! That’s totally not what that was about..!”

Yoon was starting to get really pissed at Jae-ha, but the taller man just slung his arm around Yoon’s shoulders and started to drag him towards the last night’s campfire’s remains.

  
“Good morning..! There, I said it. Now let’s go before you wake up the others...! Yoon why don’t you start preparing breakfast hmm?"

  
Yoon kept grumpily muttering complaints at Jae-ha but started walking towards the campfire anyway. Jae-ha lagged few steps behind, turning to look at the two still sitting on the tree trunk.

He stared at their direction silently, before huffing a quiet laughter and turning to follow after Yoon. Deciding he’d rather direct his attention elsewhere, Jae-ha went on to bug the groups mom character about today’s breakfast, allowing himself a tad bit more complaining than he usually would have.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second part of this work is from Hak's point of view.

Hak wiped sweat from his forehead, breathing heavily.

It was nice to train alone for a change. As much as he was proud of Yona showing responsibility and wanting to take up the sword, he would have been lying if he said he felt more reassured knowing the reckless redhead was learning how to use a sword. He had begrudgingly swallowed his complaints, knowing Yona wouldn’t give up on the idea once she had decided on it.

  
Hak rested the back end of his spear on the ground with a heavy thud and looked up to the sky. It was challenging to know what time it was exactly, with the way they were living now. They woke up a the sunrise and went to sleep by the time moon was up on the sky.

Well, most of them at least.

Hak had taken up a habit of having little training sessions after the sunset and he knew better than to think Yona was sleeping soundly the whole night either. As much as Hak would have liked to intervene, experience had proved it was best to let Yona have her way, lest it be harmful to herself.

Hak had to admit he felt pride at how the redhead had changed, but sometimes he feared she didn’t take care of herself properly. She had never been a bad person, maybe a bit- Well maybe more than just a bit selfish and naive, but it was only the result of her upbringing.

  
No matter who held the title of the king, Yona would always be princess in his eyes. The true ruler, who Hak would follow to the end of the world. Hak grunted a little at the way his heart fluttered at that thought, taking up his spear again. He didn’t need any unnecessary feelings. Yona didn’t need them, so they didn’t have to exist. The man stood still, focusing on his surroundings, he closed his eyes and listened.

  
Hak felt breeze tugging lightly at his bangs. The uneven ground beneath his feet. He flexed his arms, grip strong and unwavering around the spear’s handle. The sturdy weapon felt as much part of him as ony of his limbs, it’s sharp blade dangerous to anyone he thought was a threat, reassuring protection to those who he cared for.

Without much effort Hak spun around, his spear moving in a graceful sweep, one swift motion after another. The fighter was in his blood, in his backbone and in his soul. This is what he was trained for since he was young.

For a long time he took his position as annoyance, irritated by the princess’ nonchalant attitude. It was his pride and loyalty for his clan that made him take his responsibility seriously.

  
He wasn’t sure when, but over time it changed. They had known each other since they were small, but it was different when Hak no longer accompanied Yona without a weapon at close. They were close friends, but after Hak was given the responsibility of her safety their relationship changed.

It was difficult for him at times. To remember this was now his duty. Instead of running at her side, his place was now behind her, in front of her, anywhere he could protect her, but rarely at her side anymore.

Hak inhaled the cold night air through his nose, swinging his spear powerfully he let the air out from his mouth. His eyes were focused on an imaginary enemy, sharp and without any excess emotion.

Too much needless emotions meant moments of weakness. Moments he could not afford to have. Protecting Yona was his first priority. Everything else, second to that... Hak straightened his posture steadying his breath. Everything else.

  
He had been moving around a lot, the familiar ache in his muscles telling him he had gotten what he’d wanted. His training to keep in shape and distraction. On his way back to the camp, Hak washed quickly in a lake, ridding himself of the sweat and dirt.

The cold water server well enough in that purpose, but it also offered him the freedom of needless thoughts. Nothing like a good old cold water to take your thoughts elsewhere. Hak pushed his wet bangs out of his face, blowing away the water drops that dripped to his face. He got out of the lake, not caring that his clothes stick uncomfortably to his wet body as he dressed to head back to the camp.

  
Upon arriving to their small campsite, Hak could see a lantern lit in Yona’s tent. The man furrowed his brow slightly, exhaling deeply. There was nothing he could do to stop the princess from training in the middle of the night, was there..?

Hak, if anybody knew that trying to stop her from doing this was pointless. It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried it anyway. That was just how she was. Always the headstrong, determined, unwavering, stubborn... Hak wasn’t even sure if he was listing insults or compliments but nevertheless, he had grown fond of all of those things.

  
Hak gave a soft smile to the direction of princess’ tent, in which the light had just moments ago faded out. He had to admit there was a new side to Yona that he hadn’t really known of before the night of the tragedy. The strength of both heart and body Yona had shown had first startled Hak.

The redhead had suddenly felt unfamiliar, like all of those years they had known each other had disappeared for a second. The unfamiliarity soon changed to concern and worry, ironically strengthening his instinct to protect Yona even further.

  
Some might have thought she had long gotten over her trauma, fully living her life the way she did now. But having seen Yona that night, acting as if having lost her will to live altogether Hak knew those were wounds that would never close. Maybe, with time and comfort they could heal to some extent but they would nevertheless leave ugly scars.

There was no going back to the naive girl who once lived far away from the concerns of the world. Had it been up to him, Hak would have wanted to give Yona more time to sort things out but as it was, Yona had chosen action as her way to grieve and Hak thought nothing else but to respect her choice.Hak lingered nearby for a while, until the movements in the tent ceased and he was sure Yona had fallen asleep.

Hak moved around uncomfortably, having second thoughts about putting his clothes on before drying off properly. Sighing in exasperation, he removed his jacket and shirt, hanging them on a tree branch. Feeling the soreness creeping into his muscles, Hak stretched his back and cast his eyes up to the sky.

He was usually never this sentimental, maybe Kija had bad effect on him? Hopefully not, the thought gave Hak chills. He figured he couldn’t go to sleep like this, he might just freeze to death if he did, and that wasn’t very appealing idea.

Hak amused himself for a while thinking how people would react if they found him as a blue block of ice in the morning. The image in his head seemed a bit hilarious at first, but suddenly he saw Yona’s face again twisted in horror and looking at him with that empty look. The same eyes that had stared at him when other important person in her life had suddenly ceased form existing.

Confusing swarm of feelings filled Hak and his smile faded as if it had never even been on his lips. How could he have made fun of such a thing? He would never hurt her in such way. He had no choice but to live, no matter what he would survive and keep Yona smiling, prevent that empty void from returning to her eyes, stealing away that familiar, lively sparkle.

At some point Hak had dozed off, because the next thing he knew, he was indeed very much freezing if not to death then at least it wasn’t making him very comfortable either. Hak tried to stop his teeth from clattering together, rubbing his arms in furious attempt to return the blood circulation. Standing up took some effort with his stiff limbs, and Hak shivered when he slipped on the cold, though dry, clothes from the tree branch.

Hearing shuffling behind him, Hak turned around to see Shin-ah emerge from one of the tents, while blowing into his cold palms.  
Shin-ah looked up groggily, and even with his mask on, Hak could tell his presence had surprised the dragon from the slight jolt when he was detected.

  
“Ah.. Good morning..”

Shin-ah nodded politely in greeting but didn’t question why Hak was awake and outside so early in the morning.

  
“Morning. Reassuring to know even the all seeing dragon needs some time to get his eyes open in morning”

Hak laughed quietly, smirking at the other’s surprised reaction earlier. Hak rubbed his hand together, feeling finally returning to them. Who knows, maybe the would be missing few fingers had he stayed asleep in the cold any longer.

  
Shin-ah fumbled with his hands quietly at Hak’s remark. Hak sighed at him, smiling lazily.

  
“ It’s okay. I mean, how inferior would that leave me feeling if you were at full power all the time without an effort? Geez, we have your back, even if you did take ten years to get up. I’m happy you don’t though, one white snake with his pampered habits is almost too much for me already.”

  
Hak faked a playfully exasperated face to go with his complaining, feeling satisfied when he felt the blue dragon relax clearly.  
It didn’t take a long time for Yoon to craw lout from the tent, batting his eyelids in effort to wake fully.

  
“Huh, what an unusual pair.”

He managed in between yawns. Yoon Stretched his arms, stifling his last yawn.

“Maybe I’ll listen to your breakfast wishes for once, any suggestions?”

Yoon put his hands to his hips, already day’s worth full of energy. He raised a single brow when the other two actually spent noticeable amount of time trying to think of something, but in the end neither could put a finger on anything.

  
Shin-ah shrugged quietly saying that everything Yoon made tasted good, to which Yoon responded with excitedly going on about how they would have something special today, just because he felt like it of course.

  
Hak chuckled under his breath. Yoon was so obviously happy about the praise Hak found it almost endearing. While the mom started gathering the ingredients for the breakfast Hak started to prepare the fire with Shin-ah.

Not too long after they managed to light the fire, Jae-ha joined them with Zeno tailing close behind. Hak squinted his eye at the two suspiciously:

“Why do I get the feeling you two waited just long enough for me an Shin-ah to have finished putting up the fire..?”

Zeno glanced away innocently, before his face lit up as he noticed Shin-ah sitting with Ao, and ran right past Hak to join them.

“Well...?”

Hak felt the irritation tugging at his apparent fake smile while he bored his eyes into the green dragon.

  
To Jae-ha’s relief, Hak’s attention turned away from him when they heard Yona approach with Kija who was still half asleep and stumbled on his feet now and then.

Jae-ha threw Hak a look from his eye corner, he might as well situate himself so that the only free spot around the campfire was next to Hak. The green dragon made his way to Yoon, curiously peeking over his shoulder at the breakfast in progress and sampled the taste whenever Yoon wasn’t looking. Yona came to sit next to Hak, and hugged her knees, enjoying the warmth of the flames. Kija slumped down on her other side, looking like he might fall back to sleep any moment.

“Hmm, I think I saw huge spider a while ago, you saw it too, right Zeno?”

Hak raised his volume on purpose, giving Zeno a slight bump with his elbow. Zeno turned to blink up at him, but it took only a second for him to realize what Hak was going after.

  
“Oohh! You mean that big hairy one, don’t you? I wonder if it’s poisonous..?”

Zeno snickered soundlessly, his grin reaching all the way to his ears while he bend over to see Kija’s reaction properly. Yoon sighed and rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help smiling. Yona turned her head to look at Kija too, mischievous glint in her eyes and curious to see what would happen.

True to their expectations, the white dragons’ form stiffened visibly, and he slowly sat up. Shin-ah stopped petting Ao and the squirrel jumped down from his lap, running straight to Yoon’s shoulder to try and take a bite of anything edible the brunette was preparing the breakfast of. Jae-ha made raised his eye brows before almost imaginable light bulb went off above his head.

  
“ I think I have seen mentions of that species earlier, it’s poison shouldn’t be too deadly but you might get ugly itchy blotches everywhere around your body if it bites you. One of my crewmates got bitten by a spider of that sort and was bedridden for a whole week..”

  
At this point it took all Kija had not to straight up start screaming, he looked around with tearful eyes, trying to spot a spider of their description. Yona let out a small giggle, to which Kija reacted by shooting a hurt look at Yona.

  
“But Yona, how can you simply remain so calm..?! Didn’t you hear what they said about that enormous spider just now..?!!”

  
The shivers going up the white dragon’s body were almost visible, and once again Yoon sighed while the rest of the group giggled and smirked in exhilaration. Even Shin-ah had titled his head and looked at the situation develop with Ao who had returned to the top of his head eating a piece of meat the squirrel had managed to snatch away.

  
“They are pulling your leg Kija.”

Yoon commented flatly, looking at the frying pan he was working on.

“WHAAT!? How could you do that, I almost got a heart attack..!”

  
That caused the whole group to burst out in laughter to which eventually even Kija joined after sulking for a while. The light hearted mood was simply so contagious and soon everybody found themselves gasping for breath each wearing their personal form of happy expression. Yoon declared loudly that everyone who thought of getting to eat should settle down, all the while trying to regain his composure himself.

The hungry grumble in each’s stomachs made it easy for them to comply, the promise of the mom’s cooking making their mouth’s water. Yoon started pouring nutritious soup to bowls, which were passed around the camp fire until everybody was comfortable with their own soup bowl.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter. Little bit of everybody in this one. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far, and thank you so much for reading this story!

“Enjoy the meal!”

That was like a starting signal singe everybody almost instantly dug into their own portions of delicious food. Yoon was left blinking his eyes in surprise at the bunch, but he couldn’t help the feeling of pride that swelled in his chest.

Sometimes he felt helpless in the company of the dragons and Hak, the former general who truly had earned his title. Even Yona had picked up a weapon to protect her country, which made Yoon feel utterly helpless at times, frustratingly so. But still the group managed to make him feel important, even if it was only devouring the food he made like the last meal they would ever have.

  
Yoon smiled silently at his bowl of soup, and started eating in no hurry. After all, he if anybody knew the cook wasn’t separating from the group anytime soon, if he had a say in it. They ere his new family, one he had never really had except for Ik-soo. The idiot priest would always be dear father figure for him, but with Yona, Hak and the dragons he felt weirdly at home. No matter where they were or what they did, with them Yoon would always be home.

  
Satisfied sighs and happy thank yous resounded around the campfire, when each finished their meal with pleased expressions.

“ Mmm! Nothing beats Yoon’s cooking!”

  
Zeno exclaimed and fell back first to ground with a thud. Shin-ah nodded excitedly to show he thought the same, and Ao squealed happily.

“ Hmh, I have to second you on that one. Wonder what we did to deserve an especially tasty meal this morning..?”

  
Jae-ha leaned slightly back, supporting himself with his hands without anything to lean to. He raised his eye brows in question at Yoon, wearing his trademark smug smile, but Yoon just turned quickly to look the other way:

  
“What are you talking about? Of course my cooking is always the best there is..!”

  
“Truly! Though I appreciate that you think of the balance of nutrients as well I would appreciate it if we didn’t need to eat those disgusting bugs ever again..”

  
Everybody laughed at that again, Kija’s expression a tell tale story of the horror he experienced in his own opinion.

“Actually, I was surprised myself how quickly I got used to eating all sorts of food.. But Yoon’s is the best after all!”

  
Hak’s eyes flickered to look at Yona’s expression, wary of the subject she was trailing to. To his surprise, she only smiled even though what she clearly had thought about connected so closely to the tragedy of the Saika castle. Keeping his eyes on Yona for a few minutes longer, Hak felt his body relax when no hint of sadness came over her.

He knew she was all but over of the night’s events but nevertheless it made Hak feel somewhat calm to see that she wouldn’t fall back into her memories and depression so easily anymore. He would always be there for Yona if she ever did, but for now Hak wanted her just to be able to enjoy the happy moments.

  
Yesterday had been a busy day for everybody. They had come across a rather small village which in spite of their poverty kindly welcomed the travellers. The group mostly declined of the hospitalities and Hak along with Kija and Jae-ha had even went to hunt for the meal, providing villagers with little extra meat as thanks. After the group finished the meal with the villagers, they departed shortly after.

Little before night fall, they had encountered a group of bandits. They hadn’t been a threat in on itself, but there had been a mercenary amongst them who had posed quite a serious threat. Apparently the word of Yona and her group clashing with bandits and other violent groups had gotten around, and somebody had placed a hefty reward on their heads in the underground business.

They had mostly gotten out of the situation unharmed, though Hak had lost his concentration in a critical moment only to get stabbed with a knife. The blade’s tip had barely made it’s way through the layer of clothing and pierced his skin, when an arrow whipped past Hak and landed in the middle of the bandit’s head. Hak’s eyes went wide and his head whipped to his right to look behind his shoulder.

Yona was standing on the cliff, looking furious with a dangerous spark in her eyes, her hair like burning flames framing her angry features. Even in the heat of the battle, it took seconds before Hak could tear his eyes from her, but to him it felt like he stared at Yona for a short eternity.

  
Hak startled with a yelp when Yona suddenly called out to him.

  
“Hak? Haaaak..?”

She was waving a hand in front of his face, apparently having repeated his name several times already.

“Huh..? Oh sorry, I guess I was just thinking... About something.”

Hak scratched his neck and looked away, only to find everybody’s eyes on him. Clearly finding this kind of behaviour odd for the thunder beast, there were varying looks of worry and doubt in their faces, but only for a second before everybody went back to the comfortable conversations from earlier.

“Is something wrong..?”

  
Hak looked down at the voice laced with worry that she tried to cover with effort but to no avail. Hak blinked few times at her concern before realizing his blank expression probably just fed her worry. He let his mouth form a small smile. It was nothing like the fully toothed grins he often wore when teasing the princess.

Instead it was a soft, almost vulnerable smile which for once reached all the way till his eyes. Hak shook his head letting out a quiet breath. He leaned his chin to hi fist, sitting cross legged next to the fire.

  
Had Yona not been there, he might not have gotten out of the attack with only pain in the ass aching wound. He might be lying on his back in the tent, wishing he would loose his sense of feeling to forget the pain. Or even worse, lying lifeless under the ground. Hak lifted his free hand to the left side of his chest. It had been way too close, no wonder he had Yona worried.

Stealing a sideways glance at the redhead, Hak felt his breath get caught in his throat. Yona looked nothing close to sad or even angry at his nonchalant answer. When she had caught Hak looking at her, Yona just blinked and smiled at him. Hak realized with within a second that her smile was too warm, too real and too agonizingly close. And the faint blush covering her cheeks did nothing to make things easier for Hak.

He had to clear his throat and hastily look away, before he could do anything he’d end up regretting. Flustered and trying to get his heart beat even out, Hak missed the experated look Jae-ha was giving him.

The green dragon had a huge urge to get up and kick Hak on that stupid head of his. Was it good to nothing more but thinking of battle strategies? Jae-ha had thought Hak to be a clever person upon their first meeting, but apparently even the almighty thunder beast had his weaknesses. It was starting to get too difficult for Jae-ha to simply sit by and look at those two being way too oblivious about each others feelings.

Though the same could be said about the rest of the group. Was he honestly the only one who deserved not to be labelled as dense? And that was putting it nicely. Jae-ha swore he would kick things into motion if Hak couldn’t get a grip by this evening.

The day went by fast. The group decided to move carefully for the next few day because of the yesterday’s assault but despite their worries the trip went smoothly. Maybe the underground world had realized it was best to simply leave them be. Whatever the case actually was.

They managed to travel a satisfying distance without any interruptions, save for a merchant who looked at the group with curiosity as they passed each other. It was true that the four dragons, man with huge spear on his back and for good reasons hooded princess got a lot of attention, but lately they had managed to escape the unwanted share of it by taking the small side routes.

It took more time than taking the main roads would have, but this way it was safer and so, nobody complained.  
Arriving at a decent sized lake, the group decided to stay there overnight. Everybody went their ways after putting down their bags. The walk had been long and exhausting and there was little privacy in such days.

Everybody got along well and they had become like a family since everybody had gathered together. Still, it was clear that in the end of the day the travelling was straining both mentally and physically, which made everybody want to have their own moments of peace and quiet.

  
Yoon busied himself with sorting the herbs and medical supplies. Shin-ah said quietly that he was going for a walk with Ao to the nearby forest. Kija sat little ways from the lake with Zeno and it looked like they were talking. Their words couldn’t be heard from such a distance, but their expressions were calm, somehow almost melancholic. Jae-ha crossed his arms and glanced briefly around him.

The camp had already fallen into comfortable silence. Hak and Yona were still standing close to the place they had put down their belongings to. When the green dragon’s ears picked up Hak’s voice saying he too felt like taking a walk in the forest, Jae-ha let out a relieved breath, thinking maybe Hak would actually realize to make use of the situation.

It took only a second for Hak to prove him wrong, when the former started down on a path leading forest without a second look at Yona. In a second Jae-ha leaped to stand before Hak, efficiently blocking his path. Having taken him by surprise, Hak yelped before his brows furrowed in slight irritation.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too nice evening to go walk around alone?”

Jae-ha stood in the middle of the path, gesturing around himself to empathise how _nice_  of an evening it actually was.

“ Oh! You are right Jae-ha..! Let’s all go for a walk together!”

Yona clasped her hands together, the only person who could possibly be so enthusiastic of simple idea like that, after such an exhausting day.

“H-huhh? Yes that’s good idea..! No, I mean..!”

Before Jae-ha could properly voice his protests, he was already being dragged forward by the redhead, Hak following close behind with a sigh.

  
Ten minutes into the walk, and the air was uneasy with tension. Jae-ha walked in the front, glancing behind now and then to see Hak and Yona walk beside each other. That was something, but the awkward silence would have to go. Jae-ha pinched the bridge of his nose. How had he gotten himself into this situation? Jae-ha wasn’t sure if Yona had dragged him with them on purpose or if she just hadn’t wanted to leave Jae-ha alone in the camp. To tell the truth, that was exactly what he would have preferred at the moment. He was throuhgoutly tired and in a dire need of bath.

  
The green dragon gave a look at the two again. Nothing had changed. They were still silently walking along, Yona fumbling with her hands while Hak looked around, suspiciously seeming like he didn’t want to land his eyes on Yona. Jae-ha was just about to let out another experated sigh, when they arrived to area with fewer trees.

They were on top of a cliff, it seemed, safe distance from the edge but still close enough to see the sight that spread below: It was breathtakingly beautiful. All three stopped on their feet to admire the sight. The fields that covered the land below looked almost golden, the way they shone in the sunlight, swaying in the wind. The rays of gold were slowly fading as the day turned into dusk, and the sky was coloured in hues of pink and purple.

Jae-ha simply stared at the beauty, his mouth slightly agape, until his brain started functioning properly again. Slowly backing into the woods, Jae-ha took his change and disappeared in the midst of the trees while Yona and Hak were still caught in the dance of colour and light.

  
The awkwardness long forgotten, Yona took a few steps closer to the edge, admiring the spread of colours in the sky, and how they mixed into the glowing gold of the fields as the light slowly started to fade out. Mesmerized, Yona wanted to get even closer, but when she was about to take another step, a firm hand caught her arm.

Startled, Yona looked down only to see she was standing only inches of the edge of the cliff. When the realization hit her, she took several back steps and looked up at Hak with wide eyes. Hak didn’t say anything, only pulled her closer and wrapped his arm around her.

  
“ I wouldn’t let you fall.”

His voice was quiet, reassuring almost and it sent shivers down her spine.

“ It...it’s just so beautiful.. I didn’t even realize how close I was to falling...”

Yona unconsciously pressed against Hak’s form as if to assure herself she was safe. Hak was silent before he spoke for the next time, barely audible.

“ I find myself constantly on this cliff. And every time it’s harder not to fall.”

Hak stared at the sky, which looked almost ablaze with the colour.

“Have you been here before Hak?”

The only response she got was silence, unable to see Hak’s face, being pressed securely against his side.

  
Finally the man looked down, the light reflecting off his face giving his face light, red colouring. Hak let his arm slide down from around her shoulders, letting Yona turn to face him properly. Yona could only stare into his dark eyes, alive with the light. She felt like she would drown into his gaze, trying hard to concentrate on her feet to keep standing upright.

There was soft touch on her cheek, Hak’s fingers carefully sliding along the delicate line of her cheekbone. Yona could feel his breath, as Hak slowly leaned closer. His voice was only little above whisper, and the softness in his words melted her heart.

“ I think I fell a long time ago.”

  
Yona stared at him wide eyed. Hak had his eyes half closed, their foreheads almost touching. With care Hak took Yona’s hair between his fingers and slid his hand through her red locks.

  
Yona felt her face burn bright red. She was at loss of words, frozen to her place. The look in Hak’s eyes changed to something hurt, and there was flash of quilt his expression. Hak stayed like that for a short while, his hands in her hair but he couldn’t bring himself to look Yona in the eye anymore. He straightened his back, backing off slowly. The spell was broken so suddenly, and Yona frequently tried to look for the right words.

“ Sorry, I shouldn’t have..”

The self loathing in Hak’s voice startled Yona, and she acted before realizing what se was doing.

“ Don’t!”

She had gripped the collar of Hak’s coat., ignoring her embarrassment and the burning in her face, Yona forced herself to look Hak straight into eye.

“ Don’t..”

She looked down at her hands, desperately holding onto his jacket.

“Don’t say you are sorry.”

Yona bit her lip. Her heart was hammering so hard it hurt. It ached like it was trying to tear out of her chest. In front of her Hak breathed in and out shakily, before finally giving her answer.

  
“ You.. don’t have to do this for me..”

His voice sounded so broken, like he was holding back tears, it made Yona let go of all her doubts. She hugged Hak as tightly as she could, burying her face into his chest.

“ I’m not doing anything for you!”

Hak stilled at her words, like his body had turned into ice.

“ I’m not doing this for you Hak...”

It was hard to keep her voice steady, but Yona didn’t care anymore. She was done hearing Hak sound so hurt.

“ I’m selfish Hak. I was thinking about myself all the time.”

  
Yona hated crying, but if that’s what it took to get her thoughts through to him, she would do it.

  
“I thought maybe you didn’t feel the same way. I didn’t even know what I felt.”

Yona took a shuddering breath and forced herself to look back up at Hak. She felt tears already forming in her eyes but she smiled at Hak. It was real smile, warm, only meant for Hak and the tears didn’t matter. Yona knew Hak didn’t care about how stupid she looked. No matter how much he teased her, at the end of the day the only one who really meant the complaints about her looks or attitude was Yona herself.

Hak looked at her like she had just hit him in the face. Hesitantly Hak reached his hand to wipe her tears away, but before he could touch her face he pulled his hand back. Yona caught Hak’s wrist in mid air and slowly placed his hand on her cheek. Yona closed her eyes, leaning her face into his touch, until Hak wiped away her tears in careful movements, as if fearing Yona would push his hand away. Yona opened her eyes slowly, and looked up at Hak.

“ I l...ve you.”

Halfway through her confession, Yona averted her eyes and her voice faded away into nothing. Suddenly she heard quiet chuckle. It started out raspy, but the affection behind it began show through after the first quiet laughs. In the next moment Yona found herself in a tight embrace, his warm laugh reverberating in his chest against her cheek. For a startled second Yona stood still, until she relaxed and melted into the hug. Hak pressed a soft peck on the top of her head as she returned the hug.

  
“ I was already lost when I saw you the first time, and thought you were the most annoying princess ever. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself.”

  
Yona pinched his side affectionately but joined Hak’s deep laugh with her own, lighter tone.

 

Neither said anything until it was completely dark, final rays of sunlight having disappeared behind the horizon.

“The dusk was beautiful tonight.”

Yona said quietly as they made their way back towards the camp, walking hand in hand at a calm pace.  
Hak murmured in response

  
“It might have been, but I always liked the dawn better: It reminds me of you.”

Yona turned to look at Hak with a slightly confused look.

  
“ You always look forward. No matter how dark the clouds are, you rise every morning and fight them off. You have many painful memories. I wish I could just take them away if that made you even a bit happier, but I know you wouldn’t want that.”

  
Hak stopped in his tracks, pulling Yona’s hand lightly to make her look at him.

“ You are strong, Yona. Much stronger that I ever thought you were. I know you can protect yourself, but let me be there for you. I don’t want you to have to carry everything alone. There won’t be new morning for me if you aren’t here, nothing to start a new day.”

  
It was hard to see the expression Hak was making in the dark, but his voice was everything Yona needed to know how much he meant those words.

 

 

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Again thank you qpeura for collaborating with me for the Akatsuki no Yona big bang. Go check out her other work in tumblr and like this amazing piece!


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